City of Monroe

Civil War Major General George Armstrong Custer first came to Monroe with his half sister Lydia in 1849 when he was ten-years-old to attend school two-years at the New Dublin primary school.  He went back to his parents in New Rumley, Ohio.  In 1853, at the age of 14, George Custer returned to Monroe for two-years of study at the Stebbins Academy.  While in Monroe this second time he met a young Elizabeth (Libbie) Bacon.  His impression of Ms. Bacon was lasting enough for him to return eleven-years later, during the height of the Civil War, in 1864 and marry her.  Custer graduated as a second lieutenant from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1861.  During the Civil War the young Custer fought as a cavalry officer at the Battle of Bull Run, Gettysburg, and numerous other battles, drilled new recruits and helped defend the nation's capital, and served in the Army of the Potomac.  After the War Between the States, Lieutenant Colonel Custer carried out War Department policy in regard to the various Native American tribes in the West as settlers began a massive migration west that would put them in direct competition for land and food that sustained wandering Indian tribes.^{5, 6}

The result of competing and sometimes confusing government policies toward the Indians clashed with native way of life on a grassy ridge next to the valley of Montana's Little Bighorn River.  On June 25-26, 1876, Lieutenant Colonel Custer led 262-U.S. Army cavalry soldiers and scouts in battle against a force of more than 1,500 warriors of the Lakota Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes.  The Indian confederation killed all in Custer's attacking detachment.^{5, 6}  Custer has been remembered in a number of ways.  While many books have been written about the Ohio native, Custer was immortalized in popular culture when actor Errol Flynn portrayed Custer in the 1941 film "They Died With Their Boots On."

Another man who lived in Monroe for part of his childhood was J. (Julius) Sterling Morton --- founder of internationally-observed Arbor Day.  Morton lived in Monroe 1834 – 1854 and developed a lasting appreciation for nature generally, and trees specifically.  Two-year-old J. Sterling Morton arrived in Monroe with his parents from Adams, New York.  They lived in a house at the southeast corner of Fourth and Harrison Streets.  While growing up, Morton spent a lot of his time hanging out at his uncle Edward Morton's Monroe Advocate newspaper offices.  Uncle Edward was editor of the newspaper and the young nephew greatly admired his uncle and became interested in journalism and newspaper publishing.  Young Morton attended Albion College in Albion, Michigan during the winter term of 1847 – 1848, and through the summer of 1848.  In the autumn of 1850 Morton began attending the University of Michigan.  Morton was a senior in May, 1854 and was one-month away from graduating when he was expelled from the university for his strong opposition to the firing of a physician on the medical school's faculty.  The university later awarded a bachelor's degree to Morton in 1858.  Morton's parents moved from Monroe to Detroit in 1854.  Also in 1854, the 22-year-old Morton and his new bride Caroline moved to the Nebraska Territory where he began his own career in journalism and newspaper publishing when he began publishing The Nebraska City News in 1855.

As was permitted at the time, during the Civil War Morton hired a substitute to take his place to serve in the Union Army.  During the war Morton formed a Nebraska City Cavalry Company to keep Nebraska Territory residents safe from Indian attacks.  In addition to starting a newspaper in 1855, that same year also saw Morton begin pursuit of another interest that would eventually take him to Washington:  politics.  In 1855 the young newspaper publisher was elected a representative in the Nebraska Territorial Legislature at the age of 23.  Through writing and publishing stories in his The Nebraska City News, Morton encouraged farmers to improve their farming techniques, plant better crops, and plant trees on the largely treeless Nebraska plains.  Morton promoted the many benefits

trees could give farmers:  reduce soil erosion, provide wood for heating and cooking, and protect farm families from the blistering Nebraska summer sun.  To help promote the many beneficial uses of wood, Morton proposed a tree-planting holiday in Nebraska, called Arbor Day.  A day dedicated to trees would be his legacy.  In 1872 Morton submitted a resolution to the Nebraska Board of Agriculture designating April 10 as Arbor Day.  To encourage participation of this new day to promote the benefits of trees, Morton offered prizes to farmers who planted the most trees.  Since then the popularity of the tree holiday has spread and is now celebrated around the planet, usually on the last Friday of April.

Later, Morton's interests in agriculture and politics brought him to the attention of President Grover Cleveland, who appointed Morton Agriculture Secretary in 1893.  During Morton's tenure over the Agriculture Department, he achieved a nearly 20% savings in the cost of operating the department, operated the department with ten-percent fewer staff, improved and expanded the Weather Bureau, and introduced the widespread use of a civil service merit system instead of relying on political patronage.  Morton was even a Democratic Party presidential candidate in 1896.  The one-time Monroe resident, newspaper publisher, public servant, and founder of Arbor Day died in 1902 at the age of 70.

Two successful figures from the literary world called Monroe their long-time home:  Elizabeth Upham McWebb (Aunt Bett) and Vern J. Sneider.  Elizabeth Upham McWebb was lovingly known as Aunt Bett by untold numbers of children and adults who enjoyed reading her children's stories.  The character she is most famous for is Little Brown Bear.  Little Brown Bear originally appeared as a central character in short stories Aunt Bett wrote that were first published in children's magazines in 1938.  Little Brown Bear was published in 1942 and was the first of seven books that chronicled the many adventures of the curious bear.

Besides being an accomplished author, Aunt Bett was also a prolific story teller.  Through the years area children enjoyed listening to her read and tell stories at the library and at the Monroe County Fair.  Aunt Bett graduated from Monroe High School in 1923 and later lived for many years in the house at 304 Tremont Street.  On October 6, 2002 a statue dedication ceremony took place at the Dorsch Branch of the Monroe County Library System at Loranger Square in Downtown Monroe.  On that day, just a few feet from the library's entrance, a 600-pound bronze statue was dedicated of Little Brown Bear sitting on a log.  The statue was paid for by donations.  Elizabeth Upham McWebb died at the age of 99 in 2004.^{22, 23}

Author Vern J. Sneider was born in 1916 and was a lifelong Monroe resident.  Mr. Sneider served in the U.S. Army from 1941 to 1946.  After World War Two ended, Mr. Sneider was assigned to the Japanese island of Okinawa during the occupation.  Mr. Sneider wrote five books, numerous television scripts, and contributed to numerous periodicals, including the Saturday Evening Post and The New York Times Book Review.  But it was his experience working in the Okinawan village of Tobaru that would lead him to write the work he is most known for and for which he won the highest form of literary recognition.  Mr. Sneider published Teahouse of the August Moon in 1951 and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for that novel in 1954.

During Mr. Sneider's service in the Army immediately after the end World War Two, he is credited with reopening 550 schools in Kyong Province, Korea.  Teahouse of the August Moon is set in immediate Post World War Two occupied Japan on the island of Okinawa.  It is a satirical look at the humorous results of what happened when the U.S. Army tried to teach representative democracy and capitalism to Japanese villagers who put their own unique spin on those two concepts that were new to them.  The novel was later adapted into a Broadway production that debuted in 1953 and ran for 1,032 performances.  In 1956 Mr. Sneider's novel was produced as a film.  The film starred Marlon Brando, Glen Ford, Eddie Albert, and Paul Ford.  From 1961 until his death in 1981, Mr. Sneider lived at 426 North Macomb Street.  The Monroe author died in 1981 and his obituary was published in The Washington Post and The New York Times.^{24, 25}